Remote maintenance system

ABSTRACT

Factories ( 102-104 ) have host computers ( 107 ) for monitoring industrial equipments ( 106 ). Each host computer ( 107 ) is connected to a management host computer ( 108 ) on a vendor ( 101 ) side through the internet ( 105 ). The host computer ( 107 ) on the factory side detects occurrence of a trouble of the industrial equipment ( 106 ) and notifies the vendor side of status information representing a trouble state. In response to this, the host computer ( 108 ) on the vendor side notifies the factory side of response information representing a countermeasure against the trouble state.

This is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 08,902,160,filed Jul. 29, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,497.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a remote maintenance system formaintaining an industrial equipment installed at a remote location.

Maintenance against a trouble in an industrial equipment requiringmaintenance, such as a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus hasbeen made such that, upon occurrence of a trouble, maintenance personnelinstruct a countermeasure to an operator for the manufacturing apparatusthrough telephone or facsimile communication or directly visit a factorywhere the manufacturing apparatus is installed. This also applies toperiodical maintenance.

Along with recent increases in investment in the semiconductorindustries, the number of installed production equipments increases tocause a chronic shortage in maintenance personnel. To achieve a lowcost, production sites have been distributed at domestic and foreignremote locations. Under these circumstances, it becomes more difficultto provide countermeasures against troubles and periodic maintenance.The distributed production locations result in distribution ofinformation about maintenance of manufacturing apparatuses. This makesit difficult to perform centralized management of information. Theexperiences of past troubles cannot be effectively utilized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the abovesituation, and has as its object to immediately and efficiently performmaintenance of industrial equipments installed at remote locations.

According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained byproviding a remote maintenance system for maintaining an industrialequipment installed at a remote location, the system comprising monitormeans for monitoring an operating state of one or a plurality ofindustrial equipments, and management means for managing maintenance ofthe industrial equipment while communicating information associated withmaintenance of the industrial equipment with the monitor means throughthe internet.

Another aspect is attained by providing a monitor apparatus arranged onan industrial equipment side to constitute a remote maintenance systemfor maintaining an industrial equipment installed at a remote location,comprising, obtaining means for detecting occurrence of a trouble of oneor a plurality of industrial equipments and obtaining status informationrepresenting a state of the trouble, and communication means fornotifying, through the internet, a management apparatus for performingcentralized maintenance management of the industrial equipment of statusinformation obtained by the obtaining means, and for receiving responseinformation sent from the management apparatus through the internet inresponse to notification of the status information.

In another aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object isattained by providing a management apparatus arranged on a vendor sideto constitute a remote maintenance system for maintaining an industrialequipment installed at a remote location, comprising, communicationmeans for communicating, through the internet, with each monitor meansof at least one factory in which a monitor apparatus is arranged tomonitor an operating state of at least one industrial equipment, andcorresponding means for determining a countermeasure against a troubleon the basis of status information associated with a state of thetrouble of the industrial equipment, which is received by thecommunication means from the monitor apparatus, and causing thecommunication means to notify the corresponding monitor apparatus ofresponse information based on the determined countermeasure.

In still another aspect of the present invention, the foregoing objectis attained by providing a remote maintenance method of maintaining anindustrial equipment installed at a remote location, comprising thesteps of, communicating, through the internet, maintenance informationbetween a first vendor for supplying a first industrial equipment, asecond vendor for supplying a second industrial equipment, a firstfactory in which the first and second industrial equipments areinstalled, and a second factory in which the first and second industrialequipments are installed, causing the first vendor to performcentralized maintenance management of the first industrial equipmentsinstalled in the first and second factories, and causing the secondvendor to perform centralized maintenance management of the secondindustrial equipments installed in the first and second factories.

Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description of embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to be accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a remote maintenance system for anindustrial equipment according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of a host computer servingas a monitor apparatus installed on the user (factory) side;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of a host computer servingas a management apparatus installed on the vendor side;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an implementation to be taken by a personin charge in the department of maintenance;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an input window example serving as the userinterface of a trouble database;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the arrangement of a communication securitysystem;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a remote maintenance system for anindustrial equipment according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a semiconductor device manufacturingflow; and

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a wafer process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment ofRemote Maintenance System for Industrial Equipment

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the remote maintenance system for anindustrial equipment according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. Reference numeral 101 denotes an office of a vendor(apparatus supply maker) for providing industrial equipments. Thisembodiment assumes, as industrial equipments, semiconductormanufacturing apparatuses used in semiconductor manufacturing factories.Examples of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses arepreprocessing equipments (e.g., an exposure apparatus, acoating/developing apparatus, and an annealing apparatus), andpostprocessing equipments (e.g., an assembling apparatus and aninspection apparatus).

Reference numerals 102 to 104 denote production factories of at leastone semiconductor manufacturing maker serving as the user of industrialequipments. That is, the production factories 102 to 104 may belong todifferent makers or one maker (e.g., preprocessing and postprocessingfactories).

A plurality of industrial equipments 106, a LAN (intranet) 109 forconnecting these equipments 106, and a host computer 107 serving as amonitor apparatus for monitoring the operating states of the respectiveindustrial equipments 106 are arranged in each of the factories 102 to104.

The host computer 107 in each of the factories 102 to 104 is connectedto a host computer 108 serving as the management apparatus on a vendor101 side through the internet 105 serving as a worldwide communicationmeans. The host computer 107 notifies status information (e.g., thestate of the corresponding industrial equipment in trouble) representingthe operating state of the corresponding industrial equipment 106 fromthe factory side to the vendor side. At the same time, the host computer107 receives response information (e.g., information for instructing acountermeasure against the trouble, or a countermeasure program or itsdata) from the vendor side in response to the above notification. Thestatus information and/or the response information will be referred toas maintenance information thereinafter.

In communication between the factories 102 to 104 and the vendor 101 andLAN communication in each factory, a packet communication protocol(TCP/IP) generally used in the internet is used.

The host computer 108 on the vendor 101 side can instantaneously graspthe operating states of the industrial equipments 106 in the userfactories 102 to 104 through the internet 105. The maintenanceinformation representing the operating state and the maintenance statecan be looked up from computers in other departments of the vendor 101,e.g., computers 110 in the manufacturing department and the departmentof development in addition to the department of maintenance. Themaintenance information can be fed back to the manufacturing departmentand the department of development.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the host computer 107installed in each factory. The host computer 107 periodically executesprocessing represented by this flow chart to periodically monitor theoperating states of the plurality (n) of industrial equipments 106through the LAN 109. Upon occurrence of a trouble, the host computer 107obtains status information such as the state of the trouble and notifiesthe vendor 101 side of them through the internet 105.

In the flow chart of FIG. 2, the host computer 107 identifies andmanages the plurality of industrial equipments 106, i.e., the monitortargets, as the first to nth industrial equipments. The host computer107 sequentially increments a parameter i (steps S207 and S208) andmonitors the operating state of the ith industrial equipment (stepS203). The host computer 107 obtains the status information about theoperating state of an industrial equipment in trouble (step S204) andinforms the vendor 101 side of this status information through theinternet 105 (step S205). The host computer 107 automatically maintainsthe industrial equipment in trouble through the LAN 109, if possible(e.g., the trouble can be eliminated by software updating or the like),on the basis of the response information transmitted from the vendor 101side in response to the report of the status information (step S206).Note that if automatic maintenance against the trouble is impossible, amessage representing this is displayed on, e.g., a display.

Each industrial equipment 106 has a function of notifying thecorresponding host computer 107 of the presence/absence of a trouble inresponse to a request from the host computer 107 (corresponding to stepS203), and a function of specifying the contents of the trouble andnotifying the host computer 107 of the status information (e.g., anerror code representing the contents of the trouble) representing thespecified contents (corresponding to step S204).

In step S205, the status information notified from the host computer 107to the vendor 101 side contains, e.g., the model of the industrialequipment in trouble, the serial number, the error code, and troubleoccurrence time. The corresponding relationship between the error codeand the contents of the trouble can be spontaneously updated from thehost computer 108 of the vendor 101 side through the internet 105.

If the contents of a trouble are not registered in advance, an errorcode representing this may be contained in the status information. Inthis case, the operator can notify the vendor side of detailedinformation by means of telephone, facsimile, or E-mail.

The host computer 108 serving as the management apparatus on the vendor101 side waits for communication from the host computer 107 in eachfactory for, e.g., 24 hours. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing theoperation of the host computer 108 on the vendor 101 side.

The host computer 108 on the vendor 101 side periodically executesprocessing represented by the flow chart in FIG. 3 to monitor theoperating states of the industrial equipments 106 of the respectivefactories 102 to 104.

First, the host computer 108 monitors whether the report of a trouble ispresent (step S302). If YES in step S302, the host computer 108 obtainsstatus information about this report (step S303). The host computer 108looks up the trouble database (DB) for managing the maintenance of theindustrial equipments of each factory on the basis of this statusinformation. The host computer 108 checks whether the same trouble stateas the currently reported trouble state for the same industrialequipment has occurred in the past, i.e., whether the same trouble stateis registered in the trouble database (501 to be described later) (stepS304).

If the same trouble state is registered in the trouble database (“YES”in step S304), it is determined whether a countermeasure against thistrouble state is registered (step S306). If YES in step S306, the hostcomputer 108 notifies the host computer 108, in the factory which hasreported the trouble, of response information about the registeredcountermeasure (e.g., code information or message representing thecountermeasure, a countermeasure program, or its data) through theinternet 105 (step S307).

Upon reception of the response information, the host computer 107 on thefactory side automatically restores the industrial equipment in troubleto a normal state, if possible. When such automatic restoration isimpossible, the host computer 107 outputs a message to, e.g., a displayfor the operator of the industrial equipment in trouble.

The host computer 108 reports, to a person in charge on the vendor 101side, the fact of occurrence of the trouble, the contents of the trouble(status information), the presence/absence of notification of thecountermeasure (response information), the current state, and any otherassociated information. This report is displayed on the display of thecomputer 110 and made by automatically transmitting an E-mail from thehost computer 108 to the mail address of the person in charge on thevendor side.

If it is determined in step S304 that the same trouble state as thecurrently reported trouble state is not registered in the troubledatabase, this trouble state is newly registered in the trouble database(step S305), and then step S308 is executed.

When the report to the operator is complete (step S308), the hostcomputer 108 updates the trouble database (step S309). By this updating,the presence/absence of transmission of the countermeasure (responseinformation), trouble report reception time, and the like are registeredin the trouble database.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of the implementation which canbe taken by the person in charge in the department of maintenance, whohas received the report in step S308. First, the person in charge looksup the trouble database to grasp the contents of a trouble anddetermines whether a countermeasure is required (step S402). If NO instep S402 (e.g., when an appropriate countermeasure is notified to thecorresponding factory in step S307), the operating state of theindustrial equipment 106 in trouble is monitored through the internet105 for, e.g., future occurrence of this trouble (step S404).

If, however, a countermeasure is required (i.e., “YES” in step S402),the person in charge selects an appropriate countermeasure by looking upthe information stored in the trouble database (step S403).

As a countermeasure policy, the trouble can be eliminated on-linethrough the internet 105 (step S407). As an example, the trouble may becaused by a software error. In this case, the parameters and program inthe memory of the industrial equipment in trouble may be correctedon-line through the internet 105 and the host computer 107 on thefactory side.

As another countermeasure policy, a method of eliminating the troublemay be instructed to the operator by means of E-mail, facsimile,telephone, or the like (step S406).

For a serious trouble which cannot be eliminated by the methods in stepsS406 and S407, the person in charge visits the factory to eliminate thetrouble (step S405).

When the countermeasure is complete, the person in charge operates thehost computer 108 or the computer 110 to update the trouble database onthe basis of the information associated with this trouble (step S408).

The trouble database in the host computer 108 on the vendor 101 sidewill be described below. Dedicated or general-purpose browser softwareis installed in each computer 110 connected to the host computer 108through the LAN 109 and the console of the industrial equipment 106 ofeach factory connected through the internet, thereby constituting, e.g.,the user interface window shown in FIG. 5.

The operator on the vendor or factory side can input information such asthe model (401) of the industrial equipment, the serial number (402),the case of trouble (403), the date of trouble occurrence (404), theemergency degree (405), the trouble state (406), the countermeasure(407), and progress (408). Note that information may be automaticallyinput to the trouble database by the host computer 108, as describedabove.

The browser software of the window shown in FIG. 5 has a hyperlinkfunction (410 to 412) which allows each worker in each department of thevendor and each operator in each factory to access detailed informationof each item, retrieve a new version of the software from the softwarelibrary, or retrieve an operation guide (auxiliary information) as thereference for the operator in the factory.

As described above, the worker in each department on the vendor 101side, such as the department of maintenance, the manufacturingdepartment, and the department of development can access the troubledatabase by using the computer 110 connected to the host computer 108through the LAN 109. The outside maintenance personnel can also accessthe trouble database by using a portable terminal through the internet105. Therefore, the information of the respective departments of thevendor can be centralized and managed, and each department can alwaysaccess the latest information.

Information as part of the trouble database can be disclosed to users(factories), and each user can access various kinds of past maintenanceinformation through the internet and employs an appropriatecountermeasure against his own trouble. As described above, in thisembodiment, the maintenance information can be shared by the vendor andthe plurality of users to remarkably improve the maintenance efficiency.

This embodiment also comprises a communication security system forinhibiting the third party from accessing confidential information fromthe trouble database through the internet.

This system has a fire wall to perform validation using a password, anda computer which is allowed to access the database is registered in thehost computer 108 of the vendor 101 in advance, thereby inhibitingaccess by a computer other than the registered computers.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the arrangement of the communication securitysystem according to this embodiment. Communication for accessing atrouble database 501 of the host computer 108 on the vendor 101 side byusing a browser 500 is performed using an encoded packet. The hostcomputers 107 and 108 comprise codecs 502 and 504 and communicationcontrollers 503 and 505. A codec algorithm is provided in each factory(user) (the codecs on the vendor side can cope with a plurality ofalgorithms). The codec algorithms are periodically changed to improvesecurity.

In the system of this embodiment, as described above, the internetserving as the exiting infrastructure and its communication protocol,and internet access software are used to communicate maintenanceinformation of the industrial equipments. For this reason, loads oninstallation of dedicated communication lines and development of newsoftware can be reduced, and a high-speed, low-cost remote maintenancesystem can be constructed.

The plurality of factories in which the industrial equipments areinstalled are connected to the vendor management system through acommunicating means to perform centralized management of maintenanceinformation and share the information. The experiences of the pasttroubles can be utilized beyond the production sites, therebyimmediately coping with troubles. In particular, when maintenanceinformation is shared by different business enterprises as users, theefficiency of the whole industry can be improved.

Second Embodiment of Remote Maintenance System for Industrial Equipment

FIG. 7 is a conceptual view of an industrial equipment maintenancesystem according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Inthe first embodiment, the plurality of user factories each having theindustrial equipment are connected to the management system for thevendor for the industrial equipment through a communicating means, andthe maintenance information of the industrial equipment of each factoryis communicated through the communicating means. However, in the secondembodiment, a factory having industrial equipments of a plurality ofvendors is connected to the management systems of the vendors for theplurality of industrial equipments through a communicating means usingthe internet, thereby communicating maintenance information of eachindustrial equipment through the communicating means.

Referring to FIG. 7, reference numeral 201 denotes a production factoryof an industrial equipment user (semiconductor device manufacturingmaker) in which an exposure apparatus 202, a coating/developingapparatus 203, and an annealing apparatus 204, all of which serve as thesemiconductor device manufacturing apparatuses, are installed in theproduction line of the factory. Only one production factory 201 isillustrated in FIG. 7, but a plurality of factories are similarlynetworked in practice. The above apparatuses are connected through a LAN(intranet) 206, and the operation of the line is managed by a productionmanagement host computer 205. Host management systems 211, 221, and 231for performing remote maintenance of the supply equipments are providedin the offices of the vendors (apparatus supply makers) such as anexposure apparatus maker 210, a coating/developing apparatus maker 220,and an annealing apparatus maker 230. The host computer 205 for managingeach apparatus in the production factory of the user is connected to themanagement systems 211, 221, and 231 of the vendors for the respectiveapparatuses through the internet 200. As described with reference toFIG. 1, each of the vendors 210, 220, and 230 can perform centralizedmaintenance management of its own supply apparatuses in the factories ofthe plurality of users.

In this system, when a trouble has occurred in one of the series ofproduction equipments on the production line, the operation of theproduction line stops. Remote maintenance is received from the vendorfor the equipment in trouble through the internet 200 to immediatelycope with the trouble, thereby minimizing the stop period of theproduction line. The host management system of each vendor has a troubledatabase as described with reference to the first embodiment.Maintenance information is stored in this trouble database. Differentcommunication security systems are used between the production factoryand different vendors to prevent leakage of information. The detailedmaintenance contents and method are identical to those of the firstembodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, in the system of this embodiment, a plurality offactories of one or a plurality of users, which have industrialequipments of the plurality of vendors on the production line areconnected to the management systems of the respective vendors tocommunicate maintenance information. Even if a given equipment duringproduction gets in trouble, immediate maintenance can be received fromthe corresponding vendor. The line stop time can be minimized to improvethe production efficiency. In particular, when maintenance informationis shared by different users, different business enterprises, ordifferent vendors, the efficiency of the whole industry can be improved.

Embodiment of Semiconductor Device Production Method

A semiconductor device production method in a facility using theabove-described remote maintenance system will be described below.

FIG. 8 is a flow of manufacturing microdevices (e.g., a semiconductorchip such as an IC or LSI, a liquid crystal panel, a CCD, a thin filmmagnetic head, and a micromachine). In step 1 (circuit design), circuitdesign for a semiconductor device is performed. In step 2 (maskformation), a mask on which the designed circuit pattern is formed. Instep 3 (wafer preparation), a wafer using a material such as silicon isprepared. Step 4 (wafer process) is called a preprocess in which acircuit is actually formed on the wafer using lithography techniques byusing the prepared mask and wafer. Step 5 (assembly) is called apostprocess of forming a semiconductor chip by using the wafer processedin step 4 and includes an assembly step (dicing and bonding) and apackaging step (chip sealing). In step 6 (inspection), inspections suchas the operation check test and the durability test of the semiconductordevice manufactured in step 5 are performed. Through these steps, thesemiconductor device is finished. When the semiconductor device isshipped (step 7), the preprocess and postprocess are performed indifferent dedicated factories, and maintenance is performed for eachfactory by the remote maintenance system described above.

FIG. 9 shows a flow of the wafer process in detail. In step 11(oxidation), the surface of the wafer is oxidized. In step 12 (CVD), aninsulating film is formed on the wafer surface. In step 13 (electrodeformation), an electrode is formed on the wafer by deposition. In step14 (ion implantation), ions are implanted in the wafer. In step 15(resist process), the wafer is coated with a photosensitive agent. Instep 16 (exposure), the circuit pattern of the mask is printed andexposed by the exposure apparatus. In step 17 (development), the exposedwafer is developed. In step 18 (etching), the nonexposed portion exceptthe developed resist image is removed. In step 19 (resist removal), theunnecessary resist upon etching is removed. These steps are repeatedlyperformed to form a multiple of circuit patterns on the wafer. Theproduction equipments used in the respectively steps are monitored bythe remote maintenance systems described above. Troubles can beprevented in advance. Even if a trouble occurs, immediate restorationcan be performed, thereby improving the productivity of semiconductordevices as compared with the conventional case.

As has been described above, according to the present invention, theworldwide internet is used as the remote maintenance communication meansfor the industrial equipments to allow construction of an effectivemaintenance system with less capital investment regardless of theinstallation locations of the equipments.

The user factories in which industrial equipments are installed areconnected to the vendor management systems through the communicatingmeans to immediately cope with troubles. In addition, when themaintenance information is shared, the maintenance capability can beexpected to be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments andvarious changes and modifications can be made within the spirit andscope of the present invention. Therefore, to apprise the public of thescope of the present invention the following claims are made.

1. A remote maintenance system for industrial equipment installed at aremote location, said system comprising: a database system which isconnected to an internet and which stores maintenance informationrelating to the industrial equipment, wherein the maintenanceinformation includes both status information relating to the industrialequipment and response information which is associated with the statusinformation and which is used for handling a problem associated with theindustrial equipment, as defined by the status information; and asecurity system that allows a limited user of the industrial equipmentto access the database system through the internet to derive themaintenance information for handling the problem associated with theindustrial equipment.
 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein saiddatabase is updated based on the access of the user.
 3. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said database stores information foridentifying an industrial equipment, problem states that may occur inthe identified industrial equipment, and corresponding countermeasuresagainst the problem states.
 4. The system according to claim 1, whereinsaid database system automatically notifies an appropriate personnel ofthe problem with the industrial equipment.
 5. The system according toclaim 4, wherein said database system automatically sends an e-mail tothe appropriate personnel.
 6. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprises a LAN system connecting a plurality of computers and thedatabase system, each of the plurality of computers being capable ofaccessing the database system through the LAN system.
 7. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said security system comprises at leastone of a codec system providing an encoded communication and a firewall.
 8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said codec systemperiodically changes codec algorithms.
 9. The method according to claim1, wherein the industrial equipment comprises a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus, and wherein the maintenance informationcomprises problem information of the semiconductor apparatus.
 10. Thesystem according to claim 1, further comprising a informationtransmitting system which transmits the status information relating tothe industrial equipment to the database through the internet.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the internet uses a TCP/IPcommunication protocol.
 12. The system according to claim 1, wherein theinternet is a worldwide communication system.
 13. An exposure apparatusmaintained by a remote maintenance system defined in claim
 1. 14. Adevice manufacturing method, comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuitpattern by using an exposure apparatus being maintained by a remotemaintenance system defined in claim 1; and developing the exposed wafer.15. A method for sharing information relating to industrial equipment,comprising: providing a database system which is connected to aninternet and which stores maintenance information relating to theindustrial equipment, wherein the maintenance information includes bothstatus information relating to the industrial equipment and responseinformation associated with the status information and which is used forhandling a problem associated with the industrial equipment, as definedby the status information; allowing a first specified user of theindustrial equipment with a first security system to access the databasethrough the internet to derive the maintenance information; and allowinga second specified user, different from the first specified user, of theindustrial equipment with a second security system to access thedatabase system through the internet to derive the maintenanceinformation, wherein the first and second security systems havedifferent kinds of codec systems from each other.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 15, wherein the database stores information foridentifying an industrial equipment, problem states that may occur inthe identified industrial equipment, and corresponding countermeasuresagainst the problem states.
 17. The method according to claim 15,further comprising a step of automatically notifying an appropriatepersonnel of the problem associated with the industrial equipment. 18.The method according to claim 17, wherein said notifying step comprisesautomatically sending an e-mail to the appropriate personnel.
 19. Themethod according to claim 15, wherein each of the first and secondsecurity systems comprises at least one of a codec system providing anencoded communication and a fire wall.
 20. The method according to claim15, wherein each of the codec systems periodically changes codecalgorithms.
 21. The method according to claim 15, wherein the industrialequipment comprises a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and theinformation comprises problem information associated with thesemiconductor apparatus.
 22. The method according to claim 15, furthercomprising a step of transmitting the status information relating to theindustrial equipment to the database through the internet.
 23. Themethod according to claim 15, wherein the internet uses a TCP/IPcommunication protocol.
 24. The method according to claim 15, whereinthe internet is a worldwide communication system.
 25. An exposureapparatus, maintenance information thereof being shared by a methoddefined in claim
 15. 26. A device manufacturing method, comprising:exposing a wafer with a circuit pattern by using an exposure apparatus,maintenance information thereof being shared by a method defined inclaim 15; and developing the exposed wafer.
 27. A method for sharinginformation of industrial equipment, comprising: providing a firstdatabase system which is connected to an internet and which stores firstmaintenance information relating to first industrial equipment, whereinthe first maintenance information includes both first status informationof the first industrial equipment and first response information whichis associated with the first status information and which is used forhandling a problem associated with the first industrial equipment asdefined by the first status information; providing a second databasesystem which is connected to the internet and which stores secondmaintenance information relating to second industrial equipment, whereinthe second maintenance information includes both second statusinformation of the second industrial equipment and second responseinformation which is associated with the second status information andwhich is used for handling a problem associated with the secondindustrial equipment as defined by the second status information; andallowing a limited user of the first industrial equipment and the secondindustrial equipment with security systems to access the first databasesystem and the second database system through the internet and derivethe first and second maintenance information.
 28. The method accordingto claim 27, wherein each of the databases stores information foridentifying industrial equipment, problem states that may occur in theidentified industrial equipment, and corresponding countermeasuresagainst the problem states.
 29. The method according to claim 27,further comprising a step of automatically notifying an appropriatepersonnel of the problem associated with the first industrial equipmentor the second industrial equipment.
 30. The method according to claim29, wherein said notifying step comprises automatically sending ane-mail to the appropriate personnel.
 31. The method according to claim27, wherein the security system includes at least one of a codec systemproviding an encoded communication and a fire wall.
 32. The methodaccording to claim 31, wherein each of the codec systems periodicallychanges codec algorithms.
 33. The method according to claim 27, whereineach of the first industrial equipment and the second industrialequipment includes a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and theinformation includes problem information associated with thesemiconductor apparatus.
 34. The method according to claim 27, whereinthe first database system and the second database system are provided bydifferent venders.
 35. The method according to claim 27, furthercomprising a step of transmitting the status information relating to theindustrial equipment to the first and second database through theinternet.
 36. The method according to claim 27, wherein the internetuses TCP/IP communication protocol.
 37. The method according to claim27, wherein the internet is a worldwide communication system.
 38. Anexposure apparatus, maintenance information thereof being shared by amethod defined in claim
 27. 39. A device manufacturing method,comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuit pattern by using an exposureapparatus, maintenance information thereof being shared by a methoddefined in claim 27; and developing the exposed wafer.
 40. A method forsharing information relating to industrial equipment, the methodcomprising the steps of: providing a database system which is connectedto an internet and which stores maintenance information relating toindustrial equipment, wherein the maintenance information includes bothstatus information of the industrial equipment and response informationwhich is associated with the status information and which is used forhandling a problem associated with the industrial equipment, as definedby the status information; connecting a plurality of departments of avendor which provides the industrial equipment, with a computer networksystem such that each of the plurality of departments is able to accessthe database system to derive the maintenance information, the pluralityof departments including at least a maintenance department, amanufacturing department and a developing department; and allowing auser of the industrial equipment with a security system to access thedatabase system through the internet to derive the maintenanceinformation.
 41. The system according to claim 40, wherein each of thedepartments is able to fully access the database system and the user isable to access limited information of the database system.
 42. Themethod according to claim 40, wherein the database stores informationfor identifying an industrial equipment, problem states that may occurin the identified industrial equipment, and correspondingcountermeasures against the problem states.
 43. The method according toclaim 40, further comprising a step of automatically notifying anappropriate personnel of problem associated with the industrialequipment.
 44. The method according to claim 43, wherein said notifyingstep includes automatically sending an e-mail to the appropriatepersonnel.
 45. The method according to claim 40, wherein the securitysystem includes at least one of a codec system providing an encodedcommunication and a fire wall.
 46. The method according to claim 45,wherein each of the codec systems periodically changes codec algorithms.47. A system according to claim 40, wherein the industrial equipmentcomprises a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the informationcomprises problem information relating to the semiconductor apparatus.48. The method according to claim 40, further comprising a step oftransmitting the status information relating to the industrial equipmentto the database through the internet.
 49. The method according to claim40, wherein the internet uses a TCP/IP communication protocol.
 50. Themethod according to claim 40, wherein the internet is a worldwidecommunication system.
 51. An exposure apparatus, maintenance informationthereof being shared by a method defined in claim
 40. 52. A devicemanufacturing method, comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuitpattern by using an exposure apparatus, maintenance information thereofbeing shared by a method defined in claim 40; and developing the exposedwafer.
 53. A remote maintenance system for an exposure apparatusinstalled at a remote location, said system comprising: a databasesystem which stores maintenance information relating to the exposureapparatus, wherein the maintenance information includes both statusinformation relating to the exposure apparatus and response informationwhich is associated with the status information and which is used forhandling a problem associated with the exposure apparatus, as defined bythe status information; and a security system that allows a limited userof the exposure apparatus to access the database system to derive themaintenance information.
 54. An exposure apparatus maintained by aremote maintenance system defined in claim
 53. 55. A devicemanufacturing method, comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuitpattern by using an exposure apparatus being maintained by a remotemaintenance system defined in claim 53; and developing the exposedwafer.
 56. A method for sharing information relating to an exposureapparatus, comprising: providing a database system which storesmaintenance information relating to the exposure apparatus, wherein themaintenance information includes both status information relating to theexposure apparatus and response information associated with the statusinformation and which is used for handling a problem associated with theexposure apparatus, as defined by the status information; allowing afirst specified user of the exposure apparatus with a first securitysystem to access the database to derive the maintenance information; andallowing a second specified user, different from the first specifieduser, of the exposure apparatus with a second security system to accessthe database to derive the maintenance information, wherein the firstand second security systems have different kinds of codec systems fromeach other.
 57. An exposure apparatus, maintenance information thereofbeing shared by a method defined in claim
 56. 58. A device manufacturingmethod, comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuit pattern by using anexposure apparatus, maintenance information thereof being shared by amethod defined in claim 56; and developing the exposed wafer.
 59. Amethod for sharing information of an exposure apparatus, comprising:providing a first database system which stores first maintenanceinformation relating to a first exposure apparatus, wherein the firstmaintenance information includes both first status information of thefirst exposure apparatus and first response information which isassociated with the first status information and which is used forhandling a problem associated with the first exposure apparatus asdefined by the first status information; providing a second databasesystem which stores second maintenance information relating to a secondexposure apparatus, wherein the second maintenance information includesboth second status information of the second exposure apparatus andsecond response information which is associated with the second statusinformation and which is used for handling a problem associated with thesecond exposure apparatus as defined by the second status information;and allowing a limited user of the first exposure apparatus and thesecond exposure apparatus with security systems to access the firstdatabase system and the second database system and derive the first andsecond maintenance information.
 60. An exposure apparatus, maintenanceinformation thereof being shared by a method defined in claim
 59. 61. Adevice manufacturing method, comprising: exposing a wafer with a circuitpattern by using an exposure apparatus, maintenance information thereofbeing shared by a method defined in claim 59; and developing the exposedwafer.
 62. A method for sharing information relating to an exposureapparatus, the method comprising the steps of: providing a databasesystem which stores maintenance information relating to an exposureapparatus, wherein the maintenance information includes both statusinformation of the exposure apparatus and response information which isassociated with the status information and which is used for handling aproblem associated with the exposure apparatus, as defined by the statusinformation; connecting a plurality of departments of a vender whichprovides the exposure apparatus, with a computer network system suchthat each of the plurality of departments is able to access the databasesystem to derive the maintenance information, the plurality ofdepartments including at least a maintenance department, a manufacturingdepartment and a developing department; and allowing a user of theexposure apparatus with a security system to access the database systemto derive the maintenance information.
 63. An exposure apparatus,maintenance information thereof being shared by a method defined inclaim
 62. 64. A device manufacturing method, comprising: exposing awafer with a circuit pattern by using an exposure apparatus, maintenanceinformation thereof being shared by a method defined in claim 62; anddeveloping the exposed wafer.